1. Field of the Invention
A system for mechanically installing weather strip along the opening of a vehicle door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Weather strip is used to line the opening of a vehicle door to provide a seal between the door and the door frame. Accordingly, vehicle door openings are equipped with a lining for which weather strip may be fixed thereto. In the earlier stages of vehicle manufacturing, an assembly worker physically inserted the weather strip into the lining along the opening of the door. This process was time consuming, but was necessary as weather stripping is a pliable material susceptible to tear. Accordingly systems to automate the installation of weather stripping along the opening of a door were devised that were able to handle and manipulate weather strip without tearing it.
Mechanical weather strip installing devices are known, used and well documented. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,278 to St. Angelo, Jr. et al. discloses an apparatus for installing weather stripping in a door using a robot with an end effecter. The end effecter has a gripper which grabs the weather strip from the post on which it is hung and then a roller, the roller being placed on the weather strip and rolled onto the weather strip such that the weather strip is pressed into the opening aligning the door.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,730 to Goedderz discloses a robot arrangement for mounting weather strip within the opening of a car door. The robot has a robotic arm with an end effecter having a spigot mounted on a pivotable finger. The strip is mounted within the door frame. The finger pivots and constrains the strip to follow a curved path around a guide roller. The robotic arm continues to trace the outline of the door frame opening until the weather strip is completely inserted.
Both St. Angelo, Jr. et al. and Goedderz disclose the use of a robot having an arm with an end effecter designed to place the weather strip into position along the opening of a door and both require that the robot be able to trace the circumference of the door in order to ensure that the application of a weather strip is done properly. This requires added sensors enabling the robot to detect the path along the opening of a vehicle door and increases manufacturing costs. Furthermore, weather strip installation is subject to error when the sensor fails to lead the robotic arm accurately along opening of the door and the weather stripping itself is prone to tear by the robotic gripper which handles the weather strip. Accordingly it is desirable to have a system which does not rely upon sensors to detect the opening of a door while still maintaining the ability to place the weather strip accurately within the door without tearing the weather strip.